After ever after
by Kriptiana
Summary: The time has come for Naruto and Hinata to finally be together after the attack of Toneri. Slowly they become closer and closer with each other. Learn how they get closer to each away and see shy part of Naruto. What will happen to other couples of the Konoha? Couples: NaruHina/SasuSaku
1. Chapter 1 - How do I feel?

_This is my first story published here. I usually post stories on another site. Naruto is my favourite anime and also my first one I watched. When i heard about ''Naruto: The last movie'', I couldn't stop myself of writing a small fanfiction of it. Of main characters life after he tells how he feels about Hinata, but before they get married. I'm thinking of making more than one chapter, but I will see how it goes with me as I'm not very determined person in making on-going stories._

_The story will be in first point view from Naruto and maybe later from Hinata's side._

**''Kyuubi speaking''**

''Normal speaking''

_''Thoughts''_

**_I DO NOT OWN THE CHARACTERS OR THE STORY ITSELF_**

Few days had gone by after the incident with Toneri. Everything slowly went back into a peaceful time with Kakashi being the leader of Konoha and Naruto being again himself. Well, almost being himself. He had saved Hinata from Toneri and once again saved the world from total destruction. Why was it that he was always involved in the saving the world part? He had asked himself that many times and came to a conclusion that he just couldn't stay back and let everyone else suffer while he would relax. That is how he was. Determined to protect his friends. Konoha was his home and the people in it - his family. Even if at the start the people of Konoha treated him as dirt... Now he was the hero of the village. The number one knucklehead ninja - Naruto Uzumaki. And now after all these years he had found his own ninja way on how to live the life he had chose. The shinobi path.

**''You sure have a lot on your mind, brat.'' - **A voice came inside his mind, while he was laying in his bed, staring at the plain ceiling. He hadn't changed his place, but didn't mean that Tsunade and Kakashi didn't try to make him find a new place. He wasn't yet up to having a better place as they said it. They wanted him to move to Namikaze house hold, where his parents had lived once. It would only bring out his painful memories of loosing his father yet again. Even if he had been a reincarnated soul, it didn't mean that Naruto took it less hard of letting him go, when the time had come.

'_'And you sure have a thing of meddling in my memories, Kurama...'' _- To be honest, he wasn't even angry with Kurama. They had become friends after all. Trusting each others abilities and the nine tails helping him even if that meant staying in Naruto's body.

**''I'm just trying to help, Naruto.'' - **They had become close friends, but still sometimes Naruto felt bad about making Kurama stay inside his belly like a caged bird. The same as Neji felt with the seal on his forehead. Memory of Neji, brought painful memories of his beloved friend that was now lost forever.

_''It's not like you to start talking about how I feel, Kurama. Are you getting soft?'' - _Naruto teased his friend. Nine tails growled at him, which made only Naruto laugh. - _''Oh come on. Don't be such a fluffy toy.'' - _ That made only the nine tails growl even more and then suddenly he sighted.

**''Khe... You sure have guts to talk back to me, brat.'' - **Naruto noticed that he wasn't as angry as he tried to show himself. Which made him grin.

_''No offence meant. You are my friend...'' _- These words caught Kurama off guard. After few seconds of silence, he snorted, but decided not to say anything more.

The small talk with Kurama, made Naruto feel already better. It wasn't like he was depressed. Just caught in his own thoughts, which was a pretty rare case for the blonde guy as he was more familiar with being in action than laying in bed and doing nothing. _I'm turning into Shikamaru. Great... _Shikamaru had already changed his attitude drastically. He was still lazy and sometimes complained how everything was troublesome, but he was determined to help his friends and Naruto too.

**- **''Alright, I need to get up and do something before I go out of my mind.'' - He got up and went to the bathroom. It was a very small one, but Naruto didn't complain about it. He was used to it. He looked at himself in the mirror. His hair was shorted now. Cut in a nice manner. Some people said that his spiky hair looked better than this short version, but Naruto didn't mind the comments. He had decided that the long hair was just messing with him too much. The blue eyes still sparkled with energy in them. He needed a shower and then he could go maybe training.

**''What about your little girlfriend?'' **- Suddenly a teasing voice came into Naruto's mind. Hearing the question, a blush appeared on his face.

_''Not your business!'' -___Still blushing, he said in an annoyed voice. For some reason he felt very over protective of her since their little encounter. '_'She told me that she needed to take care of some business with her family.'' _He couldn't see her today, which was a shame as he hadn't had the time to talk to her properly since they came back from Toneri. He had to help everyone with repairing everything and reporting what had happened. Also her family had made her stay with them to ensure that everything was safe. Their promise was still intact, but for some reason he still felt unsure. He knew that Hinata loved him and he loved her, but the nervous feeling in his stomach didn't dissapear. He wasn't sure how to go with this as he had never had a girlfriend. Even with all the annoying fan girls he suddenly had gotten. With Sakura he had mostly joked about her dating him. It was easier to ask Sakura than to ask Hinata, which was a surprise to Naruto as he usually was very straightforward with what he felt. Even when he had talked to his friend, Sasuke. He had returned to village after his journey around the country. He had even heard that he had asked Sakura out. Were they going to date now? He had no idea and at the moment it was the least of his troubles.

Naruto went into the shower and let the water flow on his head. He looked up, letting the water slide down his body. The water was warm and making him feel better. Yes, he would go train and then he would think of something else.

His thoughts were interrupted by a knock on his door. He blinked his eyes. Who was that? Well he was in the shower, so they could appear here later or wait until he was ready. Another quiet knock came. It was very gentle one. Naruto blinked his eyes again and then sighted. I guess his lazy day would end now. He got out of the shower and took a towel. After few a minute he put on his pants and went to the door. Not looking who was it, he opened his door and at the same time the person on the other side had wanted to knock on the door, so her hand was in the air.

-''Hinata?''- A surprised look appeared on his face. -''I thought you were too busy today?''- His lips formed a bright smile and then he frowned, when he noticed she was staring at him with wide eyes. A blush started to appear on her face. -''Oh shit, don't faint on me again. ''- He hurriedly said to her. She blinked. -''Just breath, Hinata.''- Hinata instantly obeyed his command. He had no idea why she was on the verge of fainting again. Her face was flushed.

-''N-naruto-kun...''- She finally breathed out. Her face was red, but she was at least breathing now.

-''I thought we were over the - i'm going faint whenever i see you - part?'' - He softly said to her. Hinata looked into his eyes and then with her hand, she noted why she had the reaction. Naruto looked down, blinked once and then blushed. He was only in his pants. Naruto guessed she wasn't used of seeing him like this.

-''Oh...''- He finally said. -''Sorry about that, come in. I'll get dressed. I was in a shower, when you came so...''- Naruto blabbered, starting to get confused why he was being all of the sudden nervous of seeing her. This actually was the first time he was alone with Hinata after their kiss and depart part.

He went inside the bathroom to get his close. Naruto heard her coming inside. She had the most shy way of coming in that he had ever heard from anyone. Whenever Sakura came to his apartment, it was usually so loud that no wonder that sometimes he was scared of her. Sakura had one powerful punch. How he was alive? He had no idea.

Naruto came back to the room, now fully dressed. He found Hinata standing by the bed table, looking at the picture of Team 7. -''It was taken on the day, when we became a team. I was so annoyed with Sasuke at that point.''- He told her in a quiet voice. Naruto ignored the fact, that she had jumped up, when heard his voice.

He looked at the picture. Even when Sasuke was back, the memories still stayed and not all of them were good memories. Some were painful, but it was in the past. He needed to let it go, so everyone else could let it go. Somehow he knew that it was his responsibility to show everyone, that they could trust Sasuke. It felt like he was the only one, who could prove that Sasuke wasn't bad anymore. Well there was the fact of Sakura, but she was so obsessed always with him, that not all people trusted her opinion of him.

-''I see.''- Hinata's soft voice rang in the air. He noticed that she looked beautiful today. Not that she looked worse any other day. Still the question remained. Why was she here? He was happy to see her, but wasn't she busy today?

-''Don't get me wrong, I'm happy to see you...''- With these words blush appeared again on Hinata's face. -''But why are you here? I thought you had some business with your family?''- He questioned her curiously. Naruto suddenly felt a strong wish to hug her and hold her close, but for some reason he suddenly felt shy. The same as Hinata usually was with him. At least finally he understood the signs, that showed that she liked him. the blushing, the stuttering. Always diverting her eyes from him and the finger thing. -''You are doing it again, Hinata.''- In a soft voice he said to her. She looked up in confusion. He got up the courage and came to her. Placing his hands on hers. -''The finger thing. It's cute, but makes me annoyed at the same time.''- The words made her blush even more, there was a bit of hurt in her eyes. -''I didn't it mean it in a bad way. Like you are cute and the things you do are cute, but makes me feel unsure if I'm doing something wrong and don't get me wrong. i didn't mean that you are annoying, i just...''- He was babbling again. Hyuuga girl was looking at him with a puzzled expression and suddenly giggled, which made Naruto finally shut up and look at her with surprise. Her already red cheeks turned even redder.

-''S-Sorry...''- And there she goes again with being all shy and all. He remembered again that she hadn't answered to his question before.

-''Don't be. You should laugh more. I like it.''- Goddamnit, he was so bad at this. He was blabbering and saying random stuff and complementing her each time she did something.

-''Thank you, Naruto-kun.''- After few seconds of silence, her voice finally appeared. He knew she was trying hard not to faint and be herself. Naruto grinned at her, which made her smile too. They both stood there in silence, with their hands entangled together. She was beautiful. How had he not seen that before? All these years she had walked beside him and he had just ignored her and was chasing after Sakura. He had hurt her. He knew he had and now he was too scared to even say how he felt about her. Naruto had said he loved her, but now suddenly he couldn't. It was like a bubble of panic was around him. Choking him. His thoughts were interrupted again by Hinata's voice. -''Naruto, kun?''- She was looking at him with a concerned look on her face.

-''S-Sorry...''- Now he was the stuttering one. He let go of her hands and laughed nervously. -''I just got caught up in my thoughts.''- One of his hands went to his hair and scratched it. It only showed even more how nervous he felt.

-''Oh really?''- Suddenly in teasing voice Hinata asked. - ''And what were you so caught up with?''- The question caught him off guard. Hinata wasn't usually the straightforward one. Now it was Naruto's turn to blush.

-''It was nothing...''- She took one step closer to him, looking at him with a smile he had never seen coming out of her.

-''Are you sure? You are blushing...''- Her finger poked him in the chest. Her cheeks were red and her voice told him that she was happy and the same time trying to step over the boundary they had between.

-''I- I am?''- He breathed out, backing away nervously. Unfortunately he found himself pressed against a wall. She was making him feel giddy. Hinata nodded, while grinning at him. -''I think you are mistaken... I...''- He couldn't formulate any normal thought in his head and that meant he couldn't speak properly either. His blush was now bigger. He had to say, that when she was being confident, she was very sexy. This thought caught him off guard. _No, bad Naruto. Don't go there._ He said to himself. He wasn't Pervy-sage. Unfortunately Hinatas confident act wasn't helping him concentrate properly.

-''S-so...?''- She stuttered out, but didn't back away from him. She was barely few inches away from him. They both were blushing and acting like children who have a crush and can't say what they want to say.

-''So...?- He mimicked her. They both were staring at each other. This was the weirdest conversation he had ever had. He couldn't formulate any words and she was the same. Hopeless situation. He breathed in her scent. It was intoxicating. They were having a moment and he was being as nervous as he had ever been. Why now from all times he couldn't get out the courage.

-''A-are you...?''- Her voice trembled with fear and at the same time her stance was courage's. They were in changed roles. Now he was the shy one. Hinata breathed. Naruto saw that she was trying to compose her. Then she spoke again, without stuttering. -''Are you going to kiss me or not?''- Her face was flushed in red. Her words finally snapped him out of the fear he had caught himself into.

In a second, he moved and their lips finally met. It wasn't a kiss like before. It was soft, but at the same time it had a deeper meaning than before. It had love in it. And lust. He had never felt lust against a girl, but now it was appearing inside his heart and body.

Hinata slowly answered his kiss. Their faces were flushed with red. He felt her hands come around his neck, making their kiss even deeper. Naruto moved and turned her around, so she was now the one pressed against the wall. They did not mind the sudden change of the position. The time felt like it stopped for them, but after few moments they needed to let each other breath. His forehead was against hers. They were breathing heavily. They still were in the embrace of each other.

-''Hey.''- He finally said in a voice he had never used before. It was full of lust and care. It surprised him greatly, but seemed Hinata didn't mind the change.

-''Hey...''- She smiled at him. Her eyes showed how she felt. Once he had thought that their eyes were weird, but now he couldn't take his eyes off hers. -''I love you, Naruto-kun.''- Hinata breathed out three words that had complete control over Naruto. His cheeks flushes and then he smiled back at her.

-''I love you too, Hinata. And just call me Naruto.''- He told her. She only nodded. Silence went between them, but it wasn't the silence that a person would dislike. It was nice and fluffy feeling. Her presence was making him happy. Hyperactive happy. He started to grin at her. She answered back with the same grin. -''Took you long enough to get that courage out of you, Hinata.''- He teased her. She flushed in embarrassment.

-''Sorry for making you wait.''- She apologized to him and smiled at him with embarrassment.

-''I should say that not you. You were waiting for me for so long and i just...''- His words were cut off short as her lips touched his. Making him go silence. He understood what she meant. It didn't matter anymore as they were together. -''Hey, you want to go for some ramen? I'm kinda hungry.''- After few moments of silence, he asked her. She nodded with her head. - ''Great.''- On impulse he kissed her on cheek and then finally released his hold on her. That surprised her and made her stumble a bit, but she regained her composure fast.

He grabbed his ninja stuff and then turned to her. - ''Let's go, Hinata.''- Knucklehead grabbed her hand and they both run outside. Well Naruto was the one running and Hinata was trying to keep up with him.


	2. Chapter 2 - One step forward

_This is second chapter of the story I have started. I'm not sure where this is going, but I think I am going to keep this up for few chapters. Would be great to hear reviews about how this is going. Is there anything you would want to change? As this is the first time for me writing a fanfiction here, it's kinda hard to understand what would be the best style for this. Also later I will be writing another story about Naruto, that I had in mind. Maybe later another, but not Naruto related story. Hope you like this._

**I DO NOT OWN CHARACTERS OR BACKGROUND STORY!**

It didn't take much time for them to get to the ramen shop. Hinata was surprisingly keeping up with Naruto after getting over her surprise. They still were holding each others hands, which made her blush a bit. This wasn't the first time he had held her hand like this. She remembered all the times they had these kind of moments. Most of those times Naruto had been oblivious of her feelings and mostly she had been blushing so mad or fainting that didn't notice anything around her. Now she was stronger and more confident of herself.

Naruto suddenly stopped, making Hinata run into his back. He looked at her sheepishly. -''Sorry about that...'' - Hinata giggled quietly. He was an airhead like always. He had matured, that much she knew, but still his habits hadn't changed, which made her feel glad. It was obvious she had fell in love with a knucklehead not any other person.

-''We are here, Hinata.''- He smiled at her and then pushed her softly inside the ramen shop. -''Hey, old man! How is it going?''- They both sat down on the chairs beside each other.

-''Hey, Naruto! It's going great. We have more customers each day. Thanks to you. Oh and I see you have brought a friend with you.''- The shopper carefully looked at her, which made her blush even more. She wasn't too comfortable with being in the center of attention like this. - ''Is she the one or are you going on another fan girl round, Naruto?''- Hinata noticed his disapproval with Naruto's fan girls. Didn't it mean that he would have more customers? She felt a bit confused and shy at the moment.

-''Nope, she is the one and only. I bet you know her. Old man, meet Hinata. Hinata, you already know him, right?''- Naruto winked at her, making her blush yet again. She knew what he had meant. Her stalking habit. Damn it. How did it he know? I guess, he had realized about it after her love confessions.

-''Oh is she? You are from Hyuuga clan, right?''- Hinata only nodded and shyly smiled at him. His smile grew. -''Hey, Ayame. Naruto has a girlfriend finally. And a cute one at that.''- She was cute? Her eyes darted to her hands, that were twinging together from embarrassment.

-''Does he now? Let me see.''- Suddenly a girl came outside from the background and looked at her. Naruto grinned at her. -''She seems too pretty for you Naruto. How did you charm her?''- Oh, god, now she was really embarrassed.

-''Actually it was the other way around. She charmed me.''- Those Naruto's words made her look at him and smile widely. Her heart was beating like crazy. Would she ever stop loving this boy? No, he was a man now, which actually made her fall in love with him even more. She loved everything about this blonde knucklehead.

-''Then you finally realized what an idiot you were, Naruto?''- Ayame teased Naruto. Did everyone knew about her crush on Naruto? Jeez, and she thought she was secretive about it. I guess always fainting around him kinda blew the cover.

-''Oh come on. Don't be like that Ayame.''- Naruto pouted at her. Hinata giggled at the conversation the three had. Even if she wasn't even speaking. The best part she liked about this, was the feeling of being inside a family conversation. Even if Naruto didn't have real parents, there were other people who cared about him and now she was going to take part in this big family of his. The word made her blush. Family with Naruto. It was like dream come true. Well close to it as not a long time had passed of them being together.

-''Aww, I can't resist teasing you, Naruto. And you. Hinata right?''- She nodded with her head. -''Keep an eye on this guy. He is a knucklehead, but trust me, he is worth keeping.''- This made her blush even more.

-''Don't worry. I'm planning on keeping him.''- She finally said with confidence. Hinata didn't look at Naruto. She was sure that he was surprised about the bold claim that she had made. -''He is mine now and I'm planning on keeping it that way.''- Keeping him safe and sound. That meant from the annoying fan girls too. Damn, she will need to boost her confidence even more to get rid of them as Naruto was too clueless to protect himself from the girls.

-''Good. He deserves it and I'm sure you deserve it too, Hinata.''- Ayame approving nodded at her and then looked at Naruto, who had taken the turn in blushing now. -''You definitely need to keep him on a short leash.''- She winked at her, making Naruto protest. -''So, the usual right and for you? This time everything is on us as this is your first date.''- Date? That made her look at Ayame again in surprise. Her eyes darted to Naruto, who had frozen too with a blush on his cheeks. Was it a date?

-''Naruto, is it...?''- Now they both were blushing. They had come here to just eat and it didn't occur to them to make it a date. The boy she loved, blinked his eyes and then suddenly grinned at her from one ear to the other.

-''Hell yea, let's do this, Hinata!''- Suddenly she was being hugged.

-''N-naruto...''- She breathed out when he let her go and mumble sorry. -''D-don't worry.''- This was a great time for her to practice in not being so shy to his sudden actions of affection. Even if he didn't have family, he loved to express himself in any way he found comfortable with. Which meant a lot of physical touching and bold words. Yep, she needed to get used to this finally. Especially because she was now his girlfriend. That thought made her feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Did Naruto really feel for her like she did for him? Insecurity. Oh how she hated this feeling, but then she remembered the moment they had in the apartment and when they had defeated Toneri. How he said he wanted to be with her forever. Did he really mean it? They would see.

After the food, they said their goodbyes and went outside. He suddenly hugged her. -''Naruto?''- That surprised her yet again. His sudden affection moments were always a surprise.

-''Sorry, I just suddenly felt like you needed a hug.''- Had he felt her insecurity? No way he could have... -''Well, actually i had felt it already inside, but Ayame won't let me off the hook already for i don't know how long.''- He shyly smiled at her. That made her mind. Yes, he had felt her insecurity, which made her smile at him warmly. Oh how she loved those blue eyes and his blonde hair. Everything in him and outside him was lovable.

-''I love you, Naruto.''- She whispered at him. He blushed and grinned at her. Then his lips softly touched hers. It was a short kiss. They were in public, so both of them decided not to risk loosing it like they had in the apartment. That made her blush. She had been so bold then, but it was worth it to step over her demons. When their lips departed, she noticed that some people where watching them. -''They are looking at us.''- Her lips whispered words at him, while they stood in the center of the street, hugging each other. He looked around and grinned at the people, who were staring. hat made them look away.

-''Is that better, Hinata?''- He asked her, while she had started to giggle, when she saw how people reacted at Naruto's look. It was like he was yelling at them internally to be ashamed.

-''Yes, that is definitely better.''- Her hair fell in front of her face, when she looked down at the ground. She made a mental note on trying to keep up with Naruto's spirit. Well after this last shy moment of hers. Or maybe another few, but slowly. Somehow, she would get it and feel more comfortable. It was easier to be direct and confident when she was alone with him, but outside it was a completely different story. That actually made her remember how she had talked to other girls at hot springs about Naruto.

_It was a cold day outside, but all the girls had decided to go to the Hot springs. Well, Hinata was forced to as she wasn't comfortable with being naked with other girls, but as usual, she had no say in it._

_-''Come on Hinata! Stop hiding and come outside. It's just us. We have done this so many times. How is this any different?''- Said a pink haired girl, who suddenly appeared behind her. Making Hinata yelp in surprise and blush._

_-''I-it's not as easy as you think it is, S-sakura.''- She barely made a sound. Because she was speaking so quietly, Sakura came even closer to her, which in return made Hinata push herself closer to the wall she was trying to hide behind._

_-''Oh come on. Don't give me that crap. How are you ever going to make Naruto notice you if you are so shy?''- Those words made her blush even more, but at the same time she looked at Sakura. -''He likes confident girls that can stand up and be strong.''- Sakura suddenly was behind her, whispering in her ear. _

_-''S-sakura...''- Of course Sakura was right, but this was different. -''It's different...''-_

_-''And how is it different? If you both get together finally. At some point you'll need to show your gorgeous body to him at some point.''- Hinata's face became red as a tomato. Show to Naruto? Naked?_

_-''Stop teasing the poor girl. She will come out of the shell when she is ready.''- A brown haired girl with pony tails said to Sakura in accusing voice._

_-''I was just trying to make her stop being so shy. How is she ever going to make the dumb-ass notice her if she keeps hiding from him whenever she sees even a glimpse of him.''- In annoyed voice said Sakura and walked to Ten ten and others. She slipped inside the hot water and looked at Hinata. -''Do you want to prove yourself to him?''- This made her slowly not. She was still trying to calm her blush down. -''Then step forward and show confidence. At least step by step.''- Was she right? Of course she was right, but still. This wasn't as easy it looked. After few seconds she finally decided. After Naruto had left, she had decided to become stronger and more confident, but now she was covering in fear again. A step was made. Sakura smiled at her as the other girls looked at both of them in surprise and them laughed, when slowly Hinata made her way to the girls, trying to keep her head high. Of course she was blushing, but like Sakura said - step at a time._

The memory made her smile. Her body moved on by itself as she grabbed Naruto by his hand and pressed her face into his hand. -''I want to go to the park.''- She was blushing, but she had made the first step or maybe first few steps. Slowly she would get more confident. His body trembled, when he laughed softly.

-''Whatever you say, my lady.''- He was teasing her. Of course he was. This made her relax a bit and look up into his eyes. He was looking at her with a grin on his face. -''You know, you are getting better at this.''- She blinked at him and questiongly looked, but Naruto just shook his head and started to walk. -''Come on. I bet we can find something interesting to do.''- Her face was glowing now with happiness. She was lucky to have him and he didn't even understand how much this meant to her. He was the world to her. His existence was what made her walk each step forward. Each time with more confidence and strength that she didn't know she possessed.


End file.
